The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the United Nations on or around 29 November each year, in accordance with General Assembly mandates contained in resolutions 32/40 B of 2 December 1977, 34/65 D of 12 December 1979, and subsequent resolutions adopted under agenda item “Question of Palestine.”
According to the UN, the date of 29 November was chosen because of its meaning and significance to the Palestinian people. On that day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181 (II), which came to be known as the Partition Resolution. That resolution provided for the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State”, with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum under a special international regime. Of the two States to be created under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being.
The Palestinian people, who now number more than eight million, live primarily in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, including East Jerusalem; in Israel; in neighbouring Arab States; and in refugee camps in the region.
Guyana and Palestine formally established diplomatic relations in 2013, with the signing of a Communiqué by Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador George Talbot and the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine Ambassador Riyad Mansour.
The two countries committed to enhance their existing friendly and cooperative relations. Guyana is the first member of Caribbean Community (Caricom) to establish diplomatic ties with Palestine. In January 2011, Guyana was also the first Caricom country to recognise Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign State based on its 1967 borders.
During the establishment of formal ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had reminded that Guyana is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian people. The government has been a longstanding supporter of the people of Palestine in their struggle to realise their rights to self-determination, an independent state and permanent homeland.
Back in November of 2012, Guyana also supported Palestine’s bid for Non-Member State Observer Status in the United Nations. Guyana was among UN Member States that voted in favour of what was dubbed the de facto recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state and it used the occasion to reiterate its solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for recognition.
The International Day of Solidarity has traditionally provided an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remained unresolved and that the Palestinian people are yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.
In response to the call of the United Nations, various activities are undertaken annually by governments and civil society in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
These activities include, among other things, the issuance of special messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the organisation of meetings, the dissemination of publications and other information material, and the screening of films.
In his message, the UN Secretary–General reminded that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not just one of many conflicts in the region. It is in many ways a long-standing, gaping wound that has fed tension and conflict throughout the Middle East.
“Israeli and Palestinian leaders still voice their support for the two-State solution. However, without urgent steps to revive a political perspective, they risk entrenching a one-state reality. Recent years have witnessed two unsuccessful attempts at negotiating a peaceful settlement, three armed conflicts, thousands of dead – the vast majority of them Palestinian civilians – rampant incitement, terror attacks, thousands of rockets and bombs fired at Israel from Gaza, and an expanding, illegal Israeli settlement enterprise that risks undermining Israel’s democratic values and the character of its society.
This year, the number of demolitions of Palestinian houses and other structures by Israeli forces has doubled, compared to 2015.
Gaza remains a humanitarian emergency, with two million Palestinians struggling with crumbling infrastructure and a paralysed economy, and tens of thousands still displaced, awaiting reconstruction of homes destroyed by conflict.”
